


inertia

by punk_rock_yuppie



Series: Drabbles [7]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Artsy writing, Barrison2 implied/if you squint, Drabble, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 21:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6210286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>noun</i><br/>-a tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged<br/>-a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.</p>
            </blockquote>





	inertia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [preussisch_blau](https://archiveofourown.org/users/preussisch_blau/gifts).



> written for preussisch-blau-und-kadmium-auch who requested _Barrison2, inertia_.
> 
> this didnt turn out nearly as shippy as i intended but i'm really really pleased with it regardless, so i hope you are too!

Harry had been in a rut for a long time. It was easier that way. It was easier to keep a single, basic routine in certain aspects of his life when other aspects were maddeningly out of his control. It was natural, he thinks, to revert to the simplest behaviors he could handle when work, and Jay Garrick, and Zoom were forcing everything out of his hands. So when invention after invention failed at work, Harry read the same book for weeks on end until an invention actually succeeded. When Zoom destroyed another chunk of Central City, Harry ate the same meal until he could find some small, meager solution to ease the pain. When Jay Garrick accused him, time and time again, of single-handedly fating their Earth for destruction—well, then Harry drowned himself in whatever alcohol he could find and as much of it as he could stomach.

It had been easier that way. It had been easier to dig himself deeper and deeper into familiarities. The familiarity softened the wrongs he couldn’t right. It was easier to have the same old tired argument with Jesse about school, about STAR Labs, about her burgeoning abilities he loathed for her to have. It was easier to be frustrated over the same inane things: like his coffee being too hot, too cold, too sweet or not sweet enough; like the sky being too bright or too dreary. It was easier to stay the same in all the ways he could than to overhaul the entirety of his life and truly face his mistakes.

Harry didn’t always consider himself to be an immovable object. In days long passed, when Tess was still alive, some might have even called him spontaneous, energetic, _soft_ if they were daring. Tess brought out the kindness in him and for a while, Jesse had as well. Even after Tess was gone, Harry let Jesse inspire him and keep him light-hearted. It didn’t last, though, and far too soon Harry found himself jaded. He missed the time before STAR Labs had gone belly-up, he missed the time before speedsters and metahumans—he missed the time before Tess had died. Harry hadn’t meant to become an immovable object, but he knew it was that or wither away entirely, for he was far too much a coward to save his own world.

 

 

When Harry meets Barry Allen, his heart skips a beat in a way it hadn’t done in years. When Barry Allen opens his mouth, Harry realizes he’s torn loving and hating the voice. When Barry calls him out on all his faults, Harry is ashamed but more than anything wants to prove that he is better than his past. When he meets Barry Allen, a fear ignites deep in his core because he knows things will be changing soon, regardless of what he wants. Harry wouldn’t go so far as to say the sky opens up and birds start singing, but when he meets Barry Allen he knows everything can finally be alright.

They bring Jesse home—or, rather, to her new home here on Barry Allen’s Earth. They bring her home and develop her abilities and things shift to an almost frightening normalcy. It’s something Harry hasn’t known for ages. It’s some odd combination of his past and present: metahumans and heroism blending with family movie nights and breakfast together in the mornings. A young woman named Felicity Smoak practically erases the previous Harrison Wells from existence and makes it possible for Harry and Jesse to live like normal people. Jesse once again enrolls in school, and Harry doesn’t fight her when she subtly drops hints about traveling abroad. STAR Labs, by some miracle, regains the better kind of notoriety and drags itself up from the pits of disgrace. Things are right, things are good, and it’s all because of Barry Allen.

Barry Allen is an unstoppable force. He’s an unstoppable force of trust, comfort, compassion, of everything the fairytales are meant to be made of. Barry Allen is the fastest man alive, and most likely the kindest man alive. He actively seeks out the good in people no matter how deep it is buried; he works to draw that goodness from its hiding place inside people and out into the open. He is near untouchable and always able to rebound, even when he doesn’t think he can. He is strong, he is soft, and he is stubborn as all hell. Barry Allen is an unstoppable force and Harry couldn’t resist him even if he wanted to.

**Author's Note:**

> reminder that i'm taking one word promts at [my tumblr](http://punk-rock-yuppie.tumblr.com/ask)!


End file.
